Let’s get this out of the way right now, this report is not gonna be given out Textbook “how to document your setlists” style, for a few reasons. a) I was nowhere near the front, much less the pit. b) I didn’t bring a notebook. Sorry guys, but when I go to shows I don’t “take notes,” I fucking rock! Incidentally, there was a setlist for each band posted by the soundboard, which I was near, but I didn’t discover that till the very end of the show, when I was walking across to try and get a closer view of Mustaine. It didn’t exactly occur to me to ask the soundboard guy to get the other bands lists. I just wanted to hear Mustaine say goodbye and beat feet.

This was my first concert in about 2 years, and am I fuckin happy I went. My back is killing me from last night for some strange reason, as I was nowhere near the pit and wasn’t moving around that much, save for the occasional jump or air guitar.

This was also probably the first show where I actually showed up before the doors actually opened. There weren’t that many people outside, so its not like I was waiting in line for a long time. So as soon as I went in, looked around for the gear booths. Then I found out that if you bought certain products, you got to meet the band and have them sign it. I wish I knew this beforehand (I don’t care if it was posted a thousand times, I wasn’t paying attention) or else I would have brought my Overkill booklets for Blitz to sign.

The Bank Of America Pavillion is a small 2000 seat arena stashed under a huge tent. My seat, because I decided to wait till this past Sunday to buy a ticket, was almost toward the back. I had a great view of the stage though, so no complaints there. Being as there were only five bands that day (thank God), Overkill were on first. They came on about 5ish, and opened with Necroshine. (Note to ECW, This song had the fair share of screaming, which was probably the song you were talking about in your review). Overkill looked pretty good onstage, especially Blitz. Fuckin headbanging maniac, those who have seen him live know what I’m talking about. As for their sound...well, hey DethMaiden, I figured out why Overkill’s songs all sounded the same to you, BECAUSE OVERKILL FUCKING PLAYED A DETUNED SET!!!

Seriously, am I the only one who thinks this shit is a fucking crime? There are so many old bands who are pulling this shit, giving the ol “well our singer can’t sing the high notes anymore" excuse. Now, not to slam Blitz, but when was the last time you ever heard him sing any high notes? Fuck, when was the last time you heard Blitz sing? Blitz has his own unique style of vocals, and honestly, I really don’t think people are coming to Overkill shows to see if Blitz can still scream like the ol days, know what I mean? But I digress. It’s not the concept of detuning that bugs me. Frankly, I could give a shit less what key a band plays on their albums. Notice how I said albums. Now, live on the other hand, I expect to hear the band play their shit in the same fucking key as their albums! I don’t know how these bands are getting away with this shit without the fans noticing, but if Deep Purple tried that with Smoke On The Water (to name one example) there would be rapes and pillages for three days straight!

Now detuning aside (truth betold I really didn’t notice it until Hello From The Gutter), Overkill put on a hell of a show, considering that a) they’re old, b) its just them and their songs, no fancy lights or any of that bullshit. Blitz didn’t really have anything that entertaining to say that night, though. Hell, the only thing I remember him saying is “We hate the Yankees too,” and something about someone being an MVP before Elimination. In fact, nobody had anything entertaining to say that night, and Dave Mustaine dished out the worst stage banter I have ever heard in my life (more on that later). The highlight of Overkill’s set was when they were getting ready to play Fuck You, and they had the whole “We don’t care what you say,” call and resposne thing, and this dad brings his two kids in -who don't look a day older than 4- right behind me, as everyone is going “FUCK YOU!” I’m thinking “You picked a perfect time to bring these yunguns in ,” and of course Elimination. Usually the first time you see a band its the ‘big hits’ that stand out. Even though those songs are not big hits.

Overkill:

NECROSHINE
ROTTEN TO THE CORE
HELLO FROM THE GUTTER
THANKS FOR NOTHIN
LONG TIME DYIN'
ELIMINATION
OLD SCHOOL
FUCK YOU

Now, the signing time for Overkill just so happened to be about ten minutes into Arch Enemy’s set. Let’s do a little math problem here: Not so great view of Angela in a pullover (and by pullover I don’t mean sweaters which inexplicably exaggerate the size of boobies) + Not have to wait in long line to meet Overkill, + Purist prick like me who doesn’t give a shit about Arch Enemy = MEET OVERKILL! Somewhere in there Arch Enemy played We Will Rise followed by a sorry excuse for the last half of Layla. Or at least that's what it sounded like to me. I did however, see Micheal Amott and Angela walking up this ramp (which I saw from the autograph line) to the supposed dressing room. That was kinda cool.

Overkill were some nice guys. Blitz got there after about 5 people already had their shit signed, which made me rather happy I was not first in line, especially since I don’t even know who’s in Overkill besides DD and Blitz. DD on the other hand was MIA. Oh well. Blitz was pretty much what I expected him to be: Cordial with a black sense of humor. I of course didn’t have the balls to ask “why the detuned set?” I was for lack of a better term, starstruck. I spoke with him a little bit. He was talking to this guy who came in a little late and asked how the show went, to which Blitz jokingly replies “well the place was packed, the tent was pumping,” I chimed in and said “In a perfect world that would have actually happened Blitz,” which I obviously meant as a compliment. And Blitz replied with a smile, “What can I say man, I’m living in a fantasy of rock and roll .” It's always nice to meet a guy who doesn't take himself too seriously. I didn’t really say much else to 'em other than the fact that they were the first band I ever met (which technically wasn’t true, but that’s a different story). Overkill signed my shit and sent me on my way.

I would like to take this little break to say that I realized after the concert how completely stupid the concept of autographs are. For starters, half the time you can’t even read what they wrote. I’m wearing my “Fuck You” shirt (which I bought at the concert), with Blitz and somebody else’s signature on it, and I can’t tell whose is whose. What’s even more laughable is the supposed “value” autographed memorablia has. Oh, you have a deluxe Platinum Judas Priest record with Rob Halford and his gay lover Dave Holland’s signature? Shut the fuck up! These guys are rockers, not colligraphers. If you ask me, the “extra mile” of pleasing the fans should be a quick 3 minute conversation (favorite album, favorite song, please play this next time, Fuck Paris Hilton).

Next up was Opeth. No seriously, .

It turns out if you handed over 30 bucks you could go over and get your picture taken with Megadeth, and then the picture would be posted online on the Gigantour website. I had also wanted Dave’s autograph, so I preordered United Abominations, which in retrospect was a stupid idea, because all you got was a presigend print of the album cover. The line was pretty long, and the staff were trying to move people along pretty quickly. So much for having my Megadeth shirt (which I wore to the concert that day) signed. Basically, when you finally got to the signing area, all you could really do was watch the band sign the print. Yippee.

Fun fact: for $15, I found out that Dave Mustaine needs a shave.

Final thought on Opeth: Mikal Akupuncture or whatever his name is sounds like Ben Stein on downers with a Swedish accent. All he really said was “we’re from Sweden,” over and over again. You know who else is from Sweden? About a million hot blonde, brunette, and redhead nymphomanics who could suck a bowling ball out of pipe cleaner. And Ace Of Base.

Next up was Lamb Of God, during the first part whose set I was, you guessed it, standing in line waiting for my photograph with Megadeth. I did hear a fuckload of people chanting “Lamb Of God” before they came on (for those of you wondering, no I did not get in any fights). The only song I recognized during that whole time was Laid To Rest. Anyways, I noticed that we were allowed to get 2 pictures with the band. Everyone was doing devil horns photos. Wowee. I on the other hand, decided to do something a bit more original. I first shook hands with all the guys (I was probably the only dude who actually addressed the Drover brothers that night), then the first photo I did was the Rob Halford arm-out-with-fist-up pose.

The next photo was me doing the cunnlingus sign with my fingers and mouth.

Now, this was all done in the spirit of fun and maybe getting a cheap laugh or two. On the other hand, everybody else around me seemed to think it was as funny as a kitten getting raped. Well ok, not that, but they were all kinda going “Ennnh.” They all went ahead and did it anyway, which was cool. I’ll make a good bet that that picture does NOT end up on the website. If it does, I am curious to see the bands facial expressions, which were probably priceless.

Anyways, I got back to my seat in time to watch the second half of Lamb Of God’s set.
Somewhere in there, I got myself a slice of pizza, a fenway frank, a large Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, and Randy Blythe gave a shout out to the New England Metal & Hardcore Scene. Whoopdyfuckindoo. I did however watch with a slight interest during “Black Label” as I was curious about the “Wall Of Death.” What Wall Of Death? All I saw was your everyday mosh pit. Fuck Lamb Of God’s weak ass Wall Of Death.

Finally, after 4 hours -which were mercifully made shorter by standing in line for autographs- Megadeth came on. And yes, they had some self-respect and dignity and actually played their set in the right key. In addition, Megadeth were the only band I've seen that played more than 13 songs (and yes, that includes Iron Maiden). I think Megadeth could have played longer, but the fucking curfews. Dave Mustaine did not want to break the law that night. As for the mix, I have no complaints. There were times when you couldn’t quite make out the lead guitar, but hey, nobody's perfect. There were also a couple of “breaks” in Megadeth’s set which lasted uncomfortably long. After one of which, Dave comes out and says this classic:

“I was watching something on the Discovery Channel the other night on UFO’s. And they said that the people that chased after those things were Foo Fighters. So then I thought ‘Ah, that’s where they got the name of the band from.’ (another pause) So, uh, I guess this song could have been written by the Foo Fighters.”

.........................................yea.

Note to Dave: Hangar 18 needeth no introduction.

Other than that it was a good show, with rather tasteful use of pyro (came in when ya least expected it), and a loud fucking audience. Good job Boston! Bruce would have been proud! Setlist highlights: Tornado Of Souls, Wake Up Dead, Peace Sells, In My Darkest Hour, shit it was all awesome! Though I was kinda hoping for SOMETHING from Youthansia. A Tout Le Monde? Reckoning Day? Hell, even Train Of Consequences would have satisfied my ungrateful ass.

For the encore Dave came backed out, clapped a bit, did a kung-fu bow to the stage left side of the audience. Then he gave a little intro speech to Mechanix. Apparently the other night Dave upset alot of Metallica fanboy panty wastes by supposedly "making fun of The Four Horsemen" (even though The Mechanix is Dave's song), with the immortal line “There are two ways you can hear this next song, there’s our way and there’s there way.” He always introduces it that way live, as can be evidenced by Rude Awakening. He only played the first 2 verses, choruses, that middle part, and then stopped. Then he said “Ok you all know how the rest of that song goes.” And then he went into Holy Wars.

After Holy Wars and a weak ass excuse for a crash ending, the other three guys left and Dave took the mic and said, “Gigantour is all about the spirit of Heavy Metal. I truly belive that Heavy Metal will never go away. Get home safe so we can come back and see you again!” Uplifting stuff.